


for all that we have lost

by mistykasumi (oultrepreu)



Category: Naruto
Genre: 100-1000 Words, Alternate Reality, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-01
Updated: 2006-12-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 12:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oultrepreu/pseuds/mistykasumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Without Kyuubi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for all that we have lost

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://lachrymos.livejournal.com/profile)[**lachrymos**](http://lachrymos.livejournal.com/). I've been meaning to write you a drabble, so here you go. And yeah, it was meant to be a drabble. Only it multiplied. :3 Sort of like [](http://community.livejournal.com/naruto_wishlist/profile)[**naruto_wishlist**](http://community.livejournal.com/naruto_wishlist/). But yeah, thank you for doing last minute betaing and listening to me squee and complain. &lt;3

Naruto shows up in Suna without warning. As soon as he is in front of the gate, one of the guards rushes to inform Gaara. They remember him as one of the Konoha ninja who saved their Kazekage, but rules are rules, and they must be followed.

Gaara is not wholly surprised. News travels fast when one is a kage, and he had heard a few days ago that Akatsuki managed to remove Kyuubi from Naruto. The scale of the battle had been incredible, almost a whole forest leveled, and both sides suffered major casualties. But Akatsuki had still gotten what they wanted, and that offset any losses they had.

Gaara tells the guard to bring Naruto to his office. Naruto arrives before long, sand lightly dusting his clothing, and he gives a sheepish grin. His eyes are not bright. _Sorry I didn't let you know beforehand_, Naruto says, and Gaara waves it away. _Do you have any place to stay?_ he asks, and Naruto rubs the back of his head, says sheepishly, _I was pretty sure I could stay with you or one of your siblings_.

This is not Naruto. He acts like Naruto, but the boy before him has no spirit, and Gaara thinks, _he was a part of you just as much as Shukaku was a part of me_. They are different, and their bijuu were different, but that does not mean their situations cannot be the same.

+++

Naruto sits on the roof at night and stares at the moon. Gaara can still remember how it felt in the beginning. He had never liked Shukaku, but he had still felt lonely without him during those first days. Naruto saved his life twice, and Gaara must repay that debt. He sits on the roof with Naruto. Their hands could touch, if they wanted it, but their hands do not. Naruto does not sleep. Gaara dozes in intervals. Sleep is still new to him, after a lifetime of constant wakefulness, and his body is still adjusting.

They always return inside at dawn. Gaara prepares to administer the village. Naruto either sleeps or goes off to one of the training fields. Gaara remembers the difference he had felt when he had first tried to manipulate sand after, the extra effort it took him to do something that used to be as natural to him as breathing. He wonders how Naruto feels without the ability to draw upon the Kyuubi's chakra.

+++

Gaara goes to the training fields after finishing each day's work, and he eventually meets Naruto at one of them. Naruto is standing on a ground full of craters of different sizes. None of them are small, but from Naruto's posture and the way he stares in front of him, Gaara knows that none of them are as big as they had been when the Kyuubi was still inside him.

When Naruto finally looks at him, Gaara knows what Naruto wants. They have only fought once before, and back then, both of them had been helped by their bijuu. Now, it is just them, just Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto. This fight is much different from their only other one. Naruto is much more experienced now, and Gaara does not know what to expect because he has not seen Naruto fight since the time they faced each other.

Gaara finds that Naruto is much stronger now. He is still rash and impulsive in battle, but he's become much better at using jutsu and noticing the weak points of his opponent. Naruto almost hits him several times with his own jutsu, and Gaara manages to either dodge or shield himself with sand only just in time. Gaara still wins in the end, though, barely, because he is still the better strategist, because he is more in tune with the nuances of his body and jutsu and this is his territory, but Naruto is definitely stronger than he is.

Naruto offers his hand after their battle. When Gaara takes it, he says, _they all told me I was using only my own power, but I was unconsciously drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra all along. I want to continue to be able to protect my precious people, even without the Kyuubi._ Gaara shakes his head and says, _No, I only won because I've been living without my bijuu longer_. He does not let go of Naruto's hand, and finally, Naruto nods once, slowly, and says, _thank you_.

+++

Naruto does not go onto the roof that night. Gaara finds Naruto waiting in his room. He does not ask Naruto why he is there, just strips down to his underwear like he usually does. Naruto is there when Gaara turns around, and he kisses him.

Gaara can taste Naruto's frustration in the kiss, can taste everything Naruto has been feeling but has not been able to say, and he thinks, _me, too_. It is the first time for both of them, and it is clumsy and desperate, filled with things they do not know how to say.

Naruto stays afterward. Gaara does not know what to say or expect. Naruto looks at him seriously, says, _you are one of my precious people_, and when he smiles, his eyes are bright blue, the color of a cloudless summer sky.

Gaara does not reply, but he thinks, _you are the reason I am here today_.

06.12.01


End file.
